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One group of people who will be hurt more than others by the suspension of most pro sports in the United States are gameday employees — security workers, vendors, concession staffs, cleanup crews, etc. Many of those people work two or three jobs to make ends meet; I personally know some vendors who work both Cubs and White Sox games to make enough money to make a living.
Without games, those people are without pay. Two Detroit-area teams are doing something about that:
"The Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Tigers, 313 Presents, Fox Theatre, and Little Caesars Arena have set up a $1 million fund to cover one month’s wages for our part-time staff for games, concerts, and events" https://t.co/HfX2G1W3jr
— Cody Stavenhagen (@CodyStavenhagen) March 13, 2020
Kudos to the Ilitch Companies, the Detroit Tigers, the Detroit Red Wings, 313 Presents, Fox Theatre and Little Caesars Arena for helping out folks who might not be able to make it without their gameday jobs. They are also doing this for gameday staff at their Lakeland, Florida spring-training facility:
Ilitch Holdings announces it has set up a $1 million fund to cover a month's wages for part-time game and event staff who lost work due to coronavirus cancellations and postponements, including Lakeland staff for six canceled Spring Training games.
— Jason Beck (@beckjason) March 13, 2020
I call on the Cubs and other Chicago teams to pull together for the gameday employees in Chicago and Mesa. I know many of these people personally and as I mentioned above, quite a number of them work multiple jobs to make ends meet. Many of them are teachers and they could wind up having their schools closed soon as well.
So to the Cubs, White Sox, Bulls, Blackhawks and Fire, the teams affected by the current sports shutdown due to the novel coronavirus COVID-19, please step up. Your gameday staffs work hard for you. Please help them in their time of need.